Are you trying to install OS 9 on the G3 iMac? The OS disks that shipped with Macs would only work for the particular model of Mac they shipped with. There were also retail OS disks that would work with any Mac of the time. So you need to know what kind of CD it is and the model of your iMac to know whether or not it will be useful to you.

I guess another way to go is to look into hacking an OS disk that shipped with one model to work with your model. I have no idea if this is feasible or not. Probably easier just to get the right CD in the first place.

depends on which G3 iMac it is and which version of OS 9 the install disk has. Some of the G3 iMacs require OS 9.0.4 and some require 9.1. And as was previously pointed out, be careful about buying restore disk that shipped with a computer as opposed to a retail disk since some restore disks are set up to only install on certain types of machines....like a powerbook or a tower instead of an imac

depends on which G3 iMac it is and which version of OS 9 the install disk has. Some of the G3 iMacs require OS 9.0.4 and some require 9.1. And as was previously pointed out, be careful about buying restore disk that shipped with a computer as opposed to a retail disk since some restore disks are set up to only install on certain types of machines....like a powerbook or a tower instead of an imac

as apple does not sell retail disc's of OS9 any longer your best bet is craiglist or ebay , but make sure its a "" retail disc "" and NOT a upgrade or system disc ,
as for use of a upgrade you would need OS8 which your iMac shipped originally with , and that explains why you cant use the OS9 system discs as they never had been for your iMac
so you need a RETAIL OS9 DISC

hm what has age to do with it ...my powermac 5500 /275 is about the same age and still great for what i use it for
and for the iMac 233 there was a upgrade board available with 400mhz G4 processor , so if you could get your hands on one then fine , but i would realy keep it like it is with OS 9 and OSX panther

And ebay would be another potential source since people do sell off their older software (a "used" disk doesn't imply that it wont work for you, but it would need to be the right disk that would work on your imac in the first place)

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